Floral Panic

The Art Base is pleased to present Floral Panic, an exhibition featuring the ceramics of Molly
Altman and the paintings of Sabrina Piersol. The exhibition explores the artists’ engagement
with natural motifs and abstraction. By loosening the constraints of representation, Altman and
Piersol envision new, unrestrained ecosystems.

The worlds within these abstractions emerge from different motivations. For Altman, there is an echo of
the impossible bouquets of Dutch still life painting: arrangements that could never exist in nature and
reflect on impermanence. Both appear to overcome natural limitations, creating an uncanny sense of
abundance. Altman begins by collecting local flora such as thistle, mullein, and amaranth, coating them in
multiple thin layers of liquified porcelain. After a meticulous process, the works are fired in a kiln, which
vitrifies the clay while burning away the organic plant material and preserving its hollow shell. These
delicate, semi-translucent objects are then assembled at impossible densities to create rich, lush
environments.

Piersol approaches painting as a sensory collage—a combination of poetry, energy, and exploration.
Floral imagery acts as a point of familiarity within her abstractions; its specificity grounds connections
between poppies from California, irises from Colorado, and the mountains of Death Valley, bridging
distant settings. The spaces within the paintings often hold moments of instability, as though their physics
have not fully settled. For Piersol, this instability is formally similar to the Sapphic texts of Ancient
Greece: classical poetry that exists only in fragments yet leaves room for projection in the gaps. 
From these processes, fragility emerges as a central condition of being. In Altman’s work, the thin
translucent ceramics preserve the delicacy of flora by translating it into a material that retains
vulnerability, its intricacy demanding care. In Piersol’s paintings, the soft instability of space allows color,
luminosity, and form to gently overtake fixed logic with delight. 

For both artists, flora behaves like a melody: a rich interior language shaped through encounters with the
natural world.

This exhibition is generously sponsored by Krista Klees and Palladium Group, and Z-Group Architecture
& Interior Design.

View: The Art Base